The World, off Axis
by Summer Leigh Wind
Summary: Popping back into the room where Regulus was dozing and Narcissa reading, he shouted; "Guess what!" The blond looked his way, silent but considerate. "I'm going to be the first Black to be in Gryffindor!" Her eyes fluttered wide and Regulus jolted. "You can't!" They cry. One-Shot. Companion to "We Can Begin the World all Over Again".


_**The World, off Axis**_

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"Where are you going!?"

The boy ignored his cousin's call. If she cares, she'll leave "adorable little Reggie" and come for him. Because it's not like Andromeda's will. She'd already left for her room hours ago (when it became evident adults would not be shooing them to bed themselves). Narcissa likes Regulus better-just like everyone else. He's "precious" and "sweet" always listening with big eyes and agreeing in amicable ways. Crossing his arms, Sirius begins to mimic his brother's favorite phrases:_  
_

_"Oh yes, you are quite right."_

_"I believe you have a good point."_

_"How terrible! That's just awful!"_

Stomping about his aunt and uncle's home, the child's actually quite relieved he's not being chased after. His mother does enough of that. Taking his time to stumble through the long halls, it's quite a while before the silence he's grown accustom to is broken. It's as Sirius takes a sharp turn, paying little attention to the direction he's taken or the fact that it's the wing he was specifically directed to stay away from for the evening. Kicking at an the leg of an errant chair, the boy grumbles, "That little prick..." Huffing angrily, he stops after a few steps down the hall because he hears a low hum of voices. Curious, Sirius stilled to listen for the source; once found, he then followed the noise to a door just a few more steps away. Dropping to his knees, Sirius listened intently through the thick wood to hear a man talking and then a young woman (his cousin Bellatrix, he believes).

Even more fascinated then moments before, Sirius decided to be stupidly brave and try to open the door a crack. To his great surprise, it did open and not for the first time the boy wonders why adults never seem to worry about locking doors and keeping quiet when they don't want others to know what they're doing. Peering in, he sees a group of darkly clad wizards as well as a few witches; upon each face is a bone-white mask carved with the most frightening faces. Eyes eventually finding the middle, Sirius is forced to hold back a breath at what he sees; it's Bellatrix, tall and proud wand pointing at a sniveling girl not much older than him.

"Prove you're loyalty to the cause," a most ornate man hisses from behind his cousin. "Show me you are not faint of heart!" He demanded.

Eyes cold and lips curled cruelly, Bellatrix dips her head. "Of course my lord," rotating her wrist, she parts her lips and whispers the most frightening thing Sirius has ever heard; "Crucio!"

The girl screams, screams, and screams; Sirius watched her body contort into inhuman shapes-sees blood dribble from her nose and mouth...just as Sirius manages to finally tear his gaze away, the girl's shrieks come to an end.

"Excellent," the man his cousin called lord whispered, "Now kill the filthy muggle."

"Yes my lord," Bellatrix agreed and with a flash of green light, she did.

For a long moment, Sirius simply stood there. Then his body went into action and he fixed the door before quickly, but quietly taking himself away from the room and wing of his aunt and uncle's home. It's not long before he's near the study his cousin and brother reside in. Pausing outside the door, he can hear Narcissa's pretty laughter and his mind-eye can just see the bashful look on on Regulus's face. Like he didn't _mean _to make her laugh (when he totally did, he's a manipulative prick like that).

Something about her laughter and the imagery unsettled his stomach. Vomit in the back of his throat, Sirius ran for the bathroom and heaved into the toilet. That _girl _she was _Narcissa's _age! And her sister had just _killed _her! How could Bellatrix do something like that and not see the girl for what she was? A contemporary to her youngest sister she called "'cissa" so fondly. Wiping his mouth, the boy's thoughts went to his own brother.

Would he be able to kill someone his age? Even if he'd been told to do it? No. He wouldn't. And as his mind was wont to do when he thought of Regulus, his musings went to his parents. Sirius felt the need to puke again. _They had been in that room! _They watched their niece kill a girl. Frightened by this revelation, the boy began to wonder what it meant for him.

His parents...would they make him kill someone? He knew they were running in a disapproved of circle (the nasty looks in Hogsmeade told him _that_) he hadn't realized it involved the killing of girls and innocents. A sweat breaking out across his body, the boy slid down to the floor and clutched his head in his hands. Sirius couldn't _do _this. He couldn't call people who let girls be killed his _family_!

No, Sirius would find a new family. Hogwarts was only a year or so away, he could make friends there couldn't he? Yes...good friends. _Light _friends. Like the Longbottoms or Mckinnons, even the Potter's could probably fall under that category (if you excused the incident with the Malfoys). Slytherin didn't hold many of those families though. Wheels turning faster and faster, the boy saw a glorious vision come to life within his mind.

_He will be the first Black ever to be a Gryffindor. _

A slow smile gliding across his face, he laughed. Sirius would get away before he had to become a girl-killer like his cousin. Yes...hurrying up, the boy went to share his new ambition with his cousin and brother. Who best to test it on, after all? There reactions will dictate what he should expect from his mother and father. Popping back into the room where Regulus was dozing and Narcissa reading, he shouted;

"Guess what?!"

The blond looked his way, silent but considerate.

"I'm going to be the first Black to be in Gryffindor!"

Her eyes fluttered wide and Regulus jolted.

"_You can't!__" _They cry.

Sirius laughed; "Why not?" He demanded.

The two look more closely related than ever as they talk over one another, trying and failing to convince him why his goal is ludicrous. They didn't understand, but he knew this was a perfect plan. No one would want anything to do with him once he started mingling with the likes of Longbottoms, Weasleys and Potters. Thoughts flitting to that awful event as Narcissa reached out to shake him, Sirius felt his heart quicken with fear even as he continued to wear his confident grin.

He would _not _be like Bella. Sirius would not kill an innocent, not ever.

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**Hey there! So this is another companion/prelude that goes to the _We can Begin the World all Over Again_. But you'll also notice that some of this story's content is similar to that of chapter twelve from _The Story's Undone (to be Made Again). _It was prompted to me (by KodeV) that it's never been well explored why Sirius hates his family and all that it entails very well. I briefly touched on it there in chapter twelve and decided that I would expand and make it consistent between the two stories with this one-shot.**

**I hope to update the two stories already mentioned in the coming weekend and week, so I'm hoping this will tide you guys over until then!**

**Thank you for reading, please review!**


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